Schools watching flu closely

Friday

Nov 27, 2009 at 8:18 AM

Although the FLLAC program in the basement of our central administration building was closed for three days recently due to illness (11 of 18 students were ill), swine flu (actually called H1N1) has not closed down any of our schools yet. Yes, we have cases in all three of our schools and we averaged about 10 to 15 percent student absences per day in early November.

Please monitor your child’s symptoms closely and keep them home if they are not feeling well. Only in that way can we help stop the spread of H1N1. Of course, continue to remind your children about the rules of good health — wash hands often, keep hands away from face (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) and try to stay away from anyone who shows significant signs of the flu. Our custodians are taking extra precautions in their cleaning methods and all of our schools are well equipped with hand sanitizer and specialized cleaning products.

Over the past few weeks we’ve actually heard rumors that we will (or already had) closed down our schools due to illness. We have no immediate plans to do so. We are watching the attendance and dismissal rates every day at each of the schools and we will close down for two to three days if we reach epidemic proportions. But we are not there yet and I’m hoping we can make it through the holidays without having to do that.

Our pre-school staff was given the H1N1 vaccine recently and a voluntary clinic for students in the elementary school will be offered in late November or early December. We are working closely with the Clinton Board of Health and Town Nurse Mary Beth Boyce and we truly appreciate all of their help and cooperation.

When you call in your child’s absence, feel free to tell us the details of their sickness/symptoms. It allows our nurses to better monitor the situation. Thank you and stay healthy.

Terrance Ingano is the Clinton superintendent of schools.

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